title: Pressure-induced contractions in bovine pulmonary artery preparations.
abstract: Experiments were conducted in a superfusion bioassay system in which the effluent of a bovine main pulmonary artery (generator) was allowed to superfuse a spirally cut precontracted bovine arterial strip (detector), which had been deprived of endothelium. Effluents of endothelium-intact generator relaxed the precontracted detector by an average of 22 +/- 4.1%. Following removal of endothelium of the generator, the relaxing effect of the effluent was only 1%. A rapid increase of transmural pressure in the generator to about 40 mm Hg for 3 min induced contraction of the detector (8.4 +/- 2%) above the histamine-induced tension. In the absence of endothelium, smaller contractions were obtained from the pressurized generator (4.9 +/- 1.8%). This effect was reversible after pressure release. Effluents of endothelium-deprived generator showed no significant vasoactivity. NG-Mono-methyl-L-arginine (L-NMMA, 3.3 x 10(-5) mol/l), a specific inhibitor of nitric oxide (NO), also depressed endothelium-dependent relaxation and caused a 10.5% increase in contraction of the endothelial effluent. When the endothelium-intact generator was exposed to both pressure and L-NMMA, an additive effect was noted. Based on these observations, it was concluded that transient increase of transmural pressure in bovine main pulmonary arteries depresses the endothelium-dependent relaxation and unmasks a small but significant contractile activity of the endothelial effluent.
authors.affiliation: Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Department of Experimental Cardiology, Pasadena, Calif.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pataricza
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Menon
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Bing
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002417:Cattle; D004730:Endothelium, Vascular / Q000502:physiology*; D006632:Histamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D011312:Pressure; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000502:physiology*; D014655:Vascular Resistance
chemical_list: D006632:Histamine